New York Comic Con Is Officially Bigger Than San Diego Comic-Con

In terms of star power, Comic-Con International in San Diego may still have the edge, but as far as attendance is concerned, there's a new king of the mountain in comic conventions.

ReedPOP, the organizers behind New York Comic Con, sold passes to 151,000 people for the event at the Javits Center this weekend, making it bigger than San Diego's historic convention by about 21,000 attendees. San Diego's attendance has been capped at 130,000 for years now.

What pushed New York Comic Con over the edge may have been the decision to make Thursday an official, full con day this year -- something Comic-Con International has done for some time.

Even so, perception may still trump reality. Publishers, movie studios, and much of the mainstream press and the general public still mostly consider San Diego Comic-Con to be the nerd-culture event of the year, and it's where a lot of news still breaks.

Yet the organizers of Comic-Con International definitely seem to be feeling some pressure. Rumors about the event moving to another city -- possibly Los Angeles -- have been swirling for quite a while, and the failure of a planned expansion to the convention center has bolstered those rumors.

Likewise, Comic-Con International's organizers have become very protective of the "Comic-Con" name, suing Salt Lake Comic Con over its use of the term.